The Government of Liberia has taken steps to increase the electricity supply from the neighboring Ivory Coast to 50 Megawatts.
By Lincoln G. Peters
Monrovia, Liberia, March 5, 2025—The Interim Managing Director of the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC), Thomas Z. Gonkerwon, is taking a giant step to address the electricity gap and power supply distribution across the country by signing a Memorandum of Understanding with CI Energies and CIE of Ivory Coast to secure a stable power supply to Liberia.
On Monday, March 3, 2025, the Government of Liberia, through the LEC, signed a landmark power purchase agreement with CI-Energies, headquartered in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire, to provide electricity to Liberia from 2025 through 2027.
LEC’s Power Purchase Arrangement (PPA) with CI Energies and CIE remains a commercial agreement for the purchase and supply of electricity. Over the year, this agreement has provided LEC with capacity to meet its energy demands. Through the newly signed Private Partnership Agreement (PPA), LEC’s contracted supply is 50 megawatts of electricity from its Ivorian counterpart.
Also, LEC has initiated a solar farm project that is expected to go live in October 2025, repaired Unit 1 at Mount Coffee Hydro Power Plant, which is also expected to be completed in 2025, and expanded Mount Coffee Hydro by two additional turbines. These are all measures taken by the company to address Liberia’s future energy needs.
While plans are underway for more investment in green energy, LEC’s short-term plan is to increase Liberia’s thermal capacity, which normally comes in during the dry season to boost generation from Mount Coffee.
The LEC delegation to Ivory Coast was led by Interim Director Gonkerwon and accompanied by Cllr. Emmanuel A. Tulay, Chairman of the LEC Board of Directors, and Mr. Adam Sheriff, head of Finance.
Also in attendance were Cllr. Malayan Keita-Brown, head of Legal Services, Mrs. Verity Neufville-Sonkarlay, Communications Manager, Mr. Tomah She Floyd, Sr., CEO, Jungle Energy Power and Mr. Maissa Diagne, CEO Albedo/Libenergy.
Following signing of the agreement, the Interim Managing Director of LEC, Mr. Thomas Z. Gonkerwon, expressed appreciation to the management of both CIE and CI-Energies for their unflinching support of Liberia’s energy sector.
He acknowledged series of discussions held with the two institutions and highlighted that by agreeing to supply Liberia energy even before all the legal arrangements, CIE and CI-Energies have shown a sign of brotherhood and African solidarity.
Mr. Gonkerwon assured his Ivorian counterparts that the Government of Liberia has prioritized the energy sector and instructed the LEC to install prepaid meters at all government institutions except medical facilities.
“The LEC management is confident that the country is getting closer to its national goal of increasing access to electricity for all Liberians. With the growing demand for electricity, the LEC management is encouraging all its customers currently connected to the national grid to use electricity efficiently and avoid wasteful consumption,” he urged.
The LEC head noted that electricity serves as a catalyst for economic growth, adding that going forward, the LEC has embarked on a mission to connect more large users, especially the Industrial Park along the Somalia drive, whose demand is around 27 megawatts, and the industrial free zone.
Mr. DJAHA Kouadio Ambroise, Asset Manager at CI-Energies, welcomed the Liberian delegation and appreciated the LEC for always making efforts to abide by the terms of these agreements. In the same vein, he informed the LEC of the technical challenges that CI-Energies has been faced with since last year, which have reduced its production.
According to CI Energies, the PPA is for a 3-year term and is renewable.
“All parties will have to respect their role as per the agreement in order to make it sustainable,” Sidibe, Director General of CI Energies, warned.
He further stated that for CI Energies and CIE to continue to effectively supply LEC the power that they need, LEC must continue to be in good standing, by this we all would have respected the terms and conditions of this agreement. Editing by Jonathan Browne
